Here must this history have an end. But I marvel how smoothly and easily
the relation seemeth to have ascended from Jesus on earth to Jesus in
heaven, as if by some ladder of easy ascent, and as though there were not
seven heavens between. And perchance men would marvel the more, if I had
been able to set down exactly the image of Jesus as he appeared to me at
the first in my mother’s house at Sepphoris, or when he sat with us in the
fishing‐boat on the lake; so that the image of Jesus as he seemed then,
might be compared with the image of Jesus as he seemeth now. But I know
that I have not been able to do this. For my pen hath still outrun the
story: and in adventuring to describe Jesus as he appeared to me on earth,
I have often failed of my intent, and have described him, not as he
appeared to me on earth, but as he was hereafter to appear to me from
heaven.
Oftentimes, musing on the difference between Jesus, as he was in deed and
in truth, and Jesus, as we in Galilee supposed him to be, I have
questioned myself and said, “Whence this waste of the life of the Lord
Jesus? For if it be good for us to know him, and if the knowledge of him
be eternal life, as we believe; then how much better had it been that we
should have known him while he was alive, and not to have tarried for the
knowledge till death had taken him from us?”
Now, looking back, I seem to discern a reason for our ignorance, or, at
the least, a certain wholesome fruit springing therefrom. For methinks,
had we known the Lord Jesus as he was, and all his greatness and glory,
and all that was to betide him, and his resurrection, and his ascension,
even then when he sat with us at meat, and went in and out with us
throughout the villages of Galilee; I say, had we known even then that
Jesus was to be raised from the dead, and to sit at the right hand of God,
methinks we could not have loved him so dearly, nor have spoken with him
so familiarly, nor have questioned him so freely, revealing unto him all
our infirmities, and trusting him as a friend, yea, loving him as a very
son of man, even one of ourselves.
But the Lord so ordained it that we should come to Jesus as to a great and
good man, becoming infected with his spirit and imbued with the love of
him as of a mortal being; and then, when he had caught our hearts as it
were by guile, so that he had made himself now needful unto us even as the
very breath of our lives, then began he to say unto us, “Whom say ye that
I, the Son of man, am?” And lo, trying our hearts, we began to perceive
that this same Son of man, who had so given life to our souls, could be
none other than the very Son of the Living God.
Hence it came to pass that, when he departed from us, and when we felt a
void in our hearts, and when we questioned ourselves what it was that we
had lost, and what it was that we most loved and trusted and revered, yea
also, and what it was that we most worshipped as divine; then behold,
searching our hearts, we found that there was nothing in heaven above nor
in the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth, no, nor in the
host above the heavens, that could compare with Jesus of Nazareth. And so
it was that, when we worshipped him as the Son, it seemed not unto us as
if we were honouring him by calling him God; but (if I may speak as a
child) it seemed rather as though we were striving to honour God by saying
that God was one with Jesus. For saying this, seemed all one with saying
that God was Love.
Therefore if any put this question unto me, “Why believest thou not that
Romulus is God, and Liber, and Amphiaraus, and Elias, and Enoch (who all
are said to have escaped death), and yet thou believest that Jesus of
Nazareth is God?”: my answer is this, that I believe Jesus to be God,
first, because God is Love, and Jesus is Love; secondly, because God is
Might and Jesus is Might; and lastly, because, if Jesus was not indeed
divine, then must he needs have been a poor deluded creature, unfit and
unable to do any great work for the children of men. For certainly, albeit
he was the most humble and lowly of men, yet did he ever speak of himself,
not as one of many redeemers, but as the redeemer of men, the refuge of
the wretched, the forgiver of sins, the source of life and truth.
“But,” say some, “Jesus was of a surety not Might; for he came not as a
conqueror, but as one conquered.” Now, methinks, concerning them that say
such things, it was well said by Xanthias that “they are like unto the
foolish giant Polyphemus, who could not think that Ulysses could be
Ulysses indeed, for that he was not a giant like unto himself. In the same
way certain persons of gross understanding” (even of such an understanding
as I myself had, before that I had been enlightened by the spirit of
Christ) “suppose that Jesus could not have been the Messiah, for that he
did not come into the world as they themselves would have come, nor do the
works which they themselves would have done, had they been Messiahs. For
they would have come into the world, forsooth, riding on the clouds, or
borne on chariots of fire, or working signs in heaven or portents upon
earth. Now this is even such a Messiah as Polyphemus would have devised
for himself. But it was surely a much more divine thing that the Word of
God should come into the world as a poor man, and the child of the poor
(as if to shew that no estate of man is too low to be sanctified by the
Divine Word); and that he should subdue all men unto himself, not by force
nor portents, but by love, patience, and suffering; submitting himself
patiently to all the laws of the world, yea even to the law of death, and
yet triumphing over them all through the force of righteousness.”
Thus spake Xanthias, and I assent unto his words. But furthermore, if I
believed Jesus to be the Son of God when mine eyes were opened to discern
him after his resurrection, much more do I believe it now; because all the
years as they pass by, yea, and all the seventy nations of the earth, are
as so many angels of God, which do cry aloud with a clear voice and say,
“Jesus of Nazareth is our King; Jesus of Nazareth, though he be in heaven,
is ruling on earth.” For whithersoever I look throughout the Empire, I
behold the love of Christ beginning already to rule over the tribes of the
earth, though as yet it be in small beginnings. In Britain, where I now
write, in Gaul, in Spain, in Italy, in Greece, in all the parts of Asia
Minor, in Carthage and Egypt, yea even unto Babylon and the parts far
beyond the River, the Lord Jesus now hath his worshippers.
Too long were it now to recount what I beheld in Alexandria and in Rome
concerning the power of Christ and how the churches in those cities
increased and are still increasing. But thus much have I noted concerning
the law of Christ, that it differeth from all other laws, in that it is
fitted for all nations and climates and times. It is as useful for the
poor as for the rich. It loveth order and concord, and hateth disorder and
tumult. It loveth truth, righteousness, and happiness; it hateth deceits
and unrighteousness and misery. It doth not say unto all nations, “Take
unto yourselves the customs of the Greeks,” nor yet “Take unto yourselves
the laws of the Romans,” neither doth it prescribe any pattern of
government as the best: but what saith it? It saith, “Love God and thy
neighbour; and I, even I, will give thee strength to love them.” For our
law is none other than the Lord Jesus himself, dwelling with us again, and
abiding in our hearts for ever, through faith.
Therefore is the law of Jesus in the end to prevail over other laws. For
other laws are laws of fear, and they rule by constraint and hinder
growth; but the law of Jesus is a law of love, and ruleth through freedom,
causing all good things to grow, and making the heart to leap up with joy.
Other laws need addition of rewards and punishments; but the law of Jesus
assigneth fit reward, and executeth needful punishment, of itself, without
help of king or lawgiver. The laws of other lawgivers will pass away with
the passing of those needs for which the laws were made: but the law of
love will abide for ever, for the need thereof passeth not away. And when
that law shall be established, then, and not till then, shall wars cease
from the earth, and all nations shall be as one: for as Moses gave Israel
a law to knit the ten tribes into one nation, even so hath the Lord Jesus
given us a law to knit the seventy nations of the earth into one family of
God.
In this hope I rejoice, even in the midst of tribulations, for I trust
that Jesus of Nazareth reigneth. Therefore shall my heart not fail, albeit
the signs and mighty works of the Church seem now to be passing away, and
devils be not now cast out as of old; nor are the sick so often healed;
and the saints speak less oft with tongues. For if the signs of
righteousness and mercy and truth abide in the Church, those other signs
may perchance be suffered to pass away. But that which sometimes troubleth
me more, is that, as I hear in some of the churches, the saints are
overmuch given to the governing of the congregations, and the arranging of
the worship of the saints, and the observing of feasts and fasts, more
than to the waging of the war against unrighteousness. For though it be
well to follow after peace, yet can I not forget that the Lord Jesus
studied not to lead a quiet life, but spake unto us saying that he must
needs send a sword on earth. And who knoweth not how he stood up with the
sword of his mouth against the Pharisees in the Temple of the Lord? The
like of which contests and protestations against evil we hear not so oft,
methinks, as in old times: howbeit, perchance even herein the Holy Spirit
guideth us. But be this as it may, I still trust in the Lord Jesus; yea,
even though there be (as I hear there be) divisions in certain of the
churches, yet trust I in him. For I perceive that the Lord’s ways are not
as our ways; but the last are made first; and the weak become strong; and
the foolish are exalted above the wise. Therefore, even as from the fall
of Sion there seemeth to have come uprising to the Gentiles, even so
perhaps out of the divisions of the churches may arise truth for all the
world.
But as concerning the hour of the coming of the Lord, I deny not that he
tarrieth long, even past all expectation. But inasmuch as the Lord Jesus
himself said that he knew not that hour, for this cause I judge that no
man shall know it. Only this is revealed unto me, that when the Lord shall
come, it shall not be after such manner as we expect and shape forth in
our minds, but the manner thereof shall be unexpected and new: better, I
doubt not, than ever we hope or imagine, yet none the less, strange; yea,
and perchance, at the first, full of disappointment. For I perceive that
all the dealings of the Lord with men are after this fashion. He ever
prepareth some good thing for us, exceeding all that we had expected;
notwithstanding, with the good, there cometh also some wholesome pain or
temptation that we expect not. For thus the Lord dealt with Adam in
Paradise, and thus with Israel in the Promised Land; and thus also dealt
the Lord Jesus with his disciples on earth. Wherefore thus also, I doubt
not, the Lord Jesus will deal still with his disciples now that he
reigneth in heaven.
But why speak I in conjectures concerning these unknown matters, or why
yearn I thus impatiently for the hour of the Lord’s coming, seeing that
the Lord vouchsafeth to me, even on earth, his perpetual presence in mine
heart, and the signs of his presence compass me everywhere around, so that
even to live is joy? For verily to thee, O Lord, and to thy Kingdom, all
things in heaven and earth do bear witness.
The faces of all children, whom thou didst call thy little ones, give back
the brightness of thy countenance; the goodness of all good men testifieth
unto thee, the supreme pattern of all good; yea even the bad and the weak
proclaim their need of thee, O Lord our Redeemer, in whom alone is power
to create goodness in the worst, and to make the weakest strong. To thy
word the seed‐time and harvests bear witness; the flowers also do sing of
thy trustfulness and hope. If I look unto the earth, thou hast trodden and
sanctified it; if to the heaven, thou hast gone up into it and dost
possess it; if I think of the terrors of the depths beneath the earth,
behold, thou knowest them, and hast passed through them, and overcome
them, and hast broken the bars thereof; that they may no more keep captive
them that shall follow in thy footsteps, passing through the darkness of
the grave. Thus hast thou, O Eternal Word (by whom in ages past the worlds
were created) now in these last times created the universe anew for them
that love thee; so that all things do serve thee and proclaim thy Good
Tidings, and the world is become unto thee as a vesture, and the elements
are become thy servants: yea death itself thou hast subdued to be thy
minister, and sin thou shalt subdue to be thy bond‐slave.
Who is like unto thee, O most mighty Lord, for verily thy truth is on
every side. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee
from thy presence? If I climb up into heaven, thou art there. If I go down
unto the dead, thou art there also. If I take the wings of the morning and
remain in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall thy hand
lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. Therefore when I sleep in the
grave, I am in thy cradle; and when I shall arise up and awake, behold
around me are thy everlasting arms.
_THE END OF THE HISTORY_
_OF_
_PHILOCHRISTUS._
POSTSCRIPT
_It had been my purpose, beloved brethren, to have continued this history
from the year after the Lord Jesus suffered (in which year I left Syria
and came to Alexandria) even to this present year, the tenth year after
the destruction of the Holy City. Herein I was minded to have set forth
how great things the Lord wrought for us in the Church of Alexandria, and
the troubles that befell us there; even to the time of my going on the
embassage unto Gaius Cæsar along with Philo the Alexandrine. Next it was
my intent to have spoken of the Church of Rome, how it grew and prospered,
and how in those days the Spirit of the Lord began to lead the saints
towards wisdom in the governing and administering of the Church; lastly,
the history would have told how I accompanied Julius Plautius the legate
hither, even to Londinium, where now I write, where the Lord had prepared
a work for me to do in building up the Church in Britain. For in this way
methinks it might have been possible __for you, my brethren, more clearly
to discern how the Lord Jesus, though he be now in heaven, still guideth
his Church upon earth._
_Notwithstanding, because I am now stricken in years (being now fourscore
and six years of age), and forasmuch as I know not whether I may have life
to complete so great a work, it seemeth best (although I have in part
already written these matters of my later life) first to make an end of
this former history, especially considering the troubles now imminent in
Britain from the barbarous people, and to defer the rest to a more
convenient season._
_Farewell._
SCHOLIA
_SCHOLIA_
_I_
_These words of the Lord Jesus are not indeed found in our Gospels; but
they have been handed down by tradition._(_14_)_ Nor have I been able to
find in the history of Philochristus any sayings of the Lord Jesus, save
such as have been either handed down by tradition or else recorded in our
Gospels._
_Moreover, the writer (as it seemeth to me, having diligently compared
this history with the Gospels of the holy Evangelists Matthew and Mark and
Luke) maketh mention of all such miracles as are found in all the three
Gospels (though the raising of Jairus’ daughter and the healing of the
woman with the issue be but briefly mentioned): but if any miracle is
found in one or in two Gospels only, concerning that he is silent. And
this he seemeth to do not by chance, but of set purpose, as if he were
minded to speak of those miracles only which are common to the first three
Gospels. But Anchinous the son of Alethes maketh conjecture that
Philochristus had in his mind a certain Original Gospel (whether it were a
book or tradition) of exceeding antiquity; whence also the holy
Evangelists drew that part of their several relations which is common to
the first three Gospels._
_II_
_Here again the writer of this history addeth nothing to our knowledge:
for of all the words that Philo the Alexandrine uttereth to Philochristus,
there is scarce one that may not be found in the writings of Philo, such
as we now possess._
_The like observation also is to be made concerning that which
Philochristus reporteth of the sayings of the Scribes: whereof there is
scarce one but I have found it (or the like of it) among these sayings of
the Teachers of Israel which have been handed down to us even to this
day._(15)
_III_
_Whereas Philochristus reporteth that a certain Scribe in his days spake
of __“__eating the Messiah,__”__ I find no such saying current in those
days. But true it is that, many years afterwards, Rabbi Hillel (but this
is not the same as Hillel the Great, who lived in the generation before
Philochristus) said these words: __“__There is no Messiah for Israel,
since they have already eaten him in the days of Hezekiah.__”_(_16_)_
Moreover the saying of Moses, how that the nobles of Israel __“__saw God
and did eat and drink,__”__ is, without doubt, explained by some of the
Teachers among the Jews to mean that the Shekinah was as meat and drink to
the nobles. But whether this saying was current in those days, or whether
Philochristus erreth here also (as elsewhere), certain it is that many of
the sayings of the Scribes reported by Philochristus were not made known
nor published till very long after; and meseemeth he hath perverted the
doctrine of the Scribes with intent to cause the reader to have them in
derision._
_But Anchinous the son of Alethes saith that, howsoever the sayings of the
Scribes (whereof Philochristus maketh mention) have not been handed down
to us as spoken in those times; yet the cause is, saith Anchinous, that
few sayings of those times have been preserved. But if they had been
preserved, then, saith he, we should have found that Philochristus
described the teaching of the Scribes with exactness; even as the Gospels
also bear witness that the Scribes in those days strained at gnats but
swallowed camels; and overmuch esteemed the tithing of mint and anise and
cummin, and the purification of pots and platters; and counted an oath
that was sworn by the gold of the Temple, as being weightier than an oath
that was sworn by the Temple itself._
_IV_
_Herein it is marvellous to see with what a persistence Philochristus
cleaveth only unto that part of the first three Gospels which is common to
all the three; so that one might go near to suppose that Anchinous was
right, in that he conjectured that Philochristus doth this not by chance,
but of set purpose; having before him, perchance, some book or tradition
which contained no more than this. For whereas Philochristus saith that
the women heard some mention made of Galilee, but what it was, they agreed
not exactly among themselves: I will here set down, in order, the three
relations:—_
1 (_Saint Matthew, xxviii. 7_) “_And behold __HE GOETH BEFORE YOU INTO
GALILEE__; there shall ye see him: lo __I HAVE TOLD YOU__._”
2 (_Saint Mark, xvi. 7_) “_HE GOETH BEFORE YOU INTO GALILEE__: there shall
ye see him, as __HE SAID__ unto you._”
3 (_Saint Luke, xxiv. 6_) “_Remember how __HE SPAKE__ unto you __WHILE HE
WAS YET IN GALILEE__._”
_But as to the Gospel of the holy Apostle John, I have not been able to
find out whether any part of it were known to Philochristus. Howbeit
Anchinous saith that Philochristus, although he make no mention __of any
of the acts, nor of the long discourses, nor set dialogues of that Gospel,
nevertheless useth the doctrine of that Gospel as the foundation of the
whole of his history. Notwithstanding, saith Anchinous, Philochristus
seemeth not to attribute this doctrine to John the son of Zebedee (who
ever speaketh after a different manner, and rather as one of the Sons of
Thunder, or as the writer of the book of Revelation, than as the writer of
the Fourth Gospel), but to Nathanael and Quartus._
_V_
_Here Philochristus is unlike himself. For whereas he is wont for the most
part to omit miracles, albeit the Gospels relate them, here on the other
hand he inserteth one, albeit the Gospels omit it. Howbeit, true it is
that the holy Apostle Paul seemeth, in his first epistle to the
Corinthians, to make mention of some manifestation of the Lord Jesus to
the holy Apostle James. And the same is mentioned in certain traditions._
_But it is to be noted that, in the whole relation of the Resurrection of
Jesus, Philochristus departeth from his usual course. For he reporteth
many manifestations whereof mention is not made in all the three Gospels,
nor even in two, but in one only; and he speaketh of others also
innumerable. Howbeit he maketh no mention of that manifestation wherein
the Lord partook of fish and honey with the Disciples._
LONDON: R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS.
FOOTNOTES
1 See Note II.
2 See Note I.
3 See Note I.
4 See Note I.
5 See Note I.
6 See Note I.
7 See Note I.
8 See Note III.
9 See Note I.
10 See Note I.
11 See Note IV.
12 See Note IV.
13 See Note V.
14 _They belong to the twenty traditional sayings __“__which seem to
contain, in a more or less altered form, traces of words of our
Lord.__”_—(_Westcott’s Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, p.
453_).
15 _“__Sayings of the Jewish Fathers,__”__ by C. Taylor, M.A.,
published by the Cambridge University Press._
16 _Ibid. p. 74._
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Variations in hyphenation (e.g. “winebibber”, “wine‐bibber”, “courtyard”,
“court‐yard”) or spelling have not been changed.
Several missing quote marks have been added silently.
Other changes, which have been made to the text:
page 36, “waived” changed to “waved”
page 67, “said, I” changed to “said I,”
page 80, “Reedemer” changed to “Redeemer”
page 103, “Nathaniel” changed to “Nathanael”
page 205, “familar” changed to “familiar”
page 374, comma removed after “this”
page 378, double “be” removed after “thy will”
page 417, period changed to comma after “led”